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The Art of Witnessing

Documentary Art, Literature, Film and Theatre in Eastern Europe and the Baltics

Anja Tippner editor Johanna Lindbladh editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Central European University Press

Publishing:31st Mar '25

£128.00

This title is due to be published on 31st March, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

The Art of Witnessing cover

The volume examines the documentary practices of film, theatre, and literature from the 1960s to the 2020s in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and the Baltic states. 

Methodologically innovative case studies consider contemporary ‘witness art’ – for example verbatim theatre based on interviews with people participating in political protest and war. The contributions expand on the political, medial, and aesthetic developments that shaped Soviet attitudes towards the arts and show how these concepts still influence contemporary practices. The essays are written for scholars and students of literature, culture, sociology, film, theatre, and trauma studies, but also for general readers interested in the documentary arts.  

The Russian invasion of the Ukraine has reinforced a dynamic that had already gained traction due to the political transformations post-1991 and the Euro-Maidan. Ukrainian documentary art has become a tool to witness rapid change and to counteract media warfare. Artists have reacted by creating works that address traumatizing experiences by keeping records and analyzing the ongoing events at the same time. The essays reflect on documentary approaches that are proving to be collaborative artistic tools in violent times.

ISBN: 9789633866733

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

350 pages